About Unity Youth & Family Ministry
Links:
When:
Unity Youth class or "Sunday School" is held on Sundays from 10 a.m. until the end of service, which is usually around 11:00 a.m. If you would like to bring your kids to Unity of Madison, feel free to come on Sunday!
After class, kids are welcome to join parents in the basement for after-church snacks.
Where: Unity of Madison is located at 601 Tompkins Drive, Madison, WI 53716. (Google Map link)
What to Expect at Unity Youth & Family Ministry
Unity Youth & Family Ministry (YFM) takes place during congregation. Afterward kids are welcome to join the congregation for snacks in the Namaste Cafe, located in the basement.
Who is YFM for?
Unity Youth & Family Ministry is for all kids aged 3-18.
What does YFM do?
Unity Youth & Family Ministry is a program designed to support the spiritual growth and development of children and their families within the Unity movement.
When & Where is YFM?
Every Sunday, 10 AM-11 AM
601 Tompkins Drive
Madison, WI 53716
Why attend?
For the spiritual education, community connection, creative expression, and life skills in a safe and inclusive environment.
When you arrive:
- Families are welcomed in the entrance hallway by the YFM Coordinator, and parents can fill out the sign-in form.
- Kids can sit in the “kid area” or with parents in the sanctuary and fill out a “prayer request” if they’d like. Everyone attends the beginning segment of service together where kids are blessed and often join in with a song.
- Around 10:10 AM, the YFM group will go upstairs together and share a book, short video, or song, then the group discusses it.
- After the discussion, the teacher guides a meditation based on the shared experience and the day’s spiritual lesson.
- The children engage in a craft or activity that help them “see” the spiritual lesson in their lives. We focus on divergent learning, where thoughts can move freely without a concrete answer, rather than convergent learning, which brings thoughts toward one correct answer. The kids learn through movement, play, experience, music, conversation, and/or exploration.
- During the activity, teachers and volunteers ask questions relating to the topic, sharing stories, encouraging sharing and empowering the kids.
- When service is over, parents will come upstairs and sign kids out, where they can join enjoy snacks in the basement in our Namaste Cafe!
What is Class Like?
Unity Church believes that all children have innate wisdom and potential within them, and the role of teachers is to help draw out this inner knowledge and guide children in discovering and expressing their true selves.
The “Living Curricula” model from Unity is followed, with the addition of science or storytelling in every class. Stories are shared, questions are asked, and conversations about spiritual lessons are encouraged. Unity Church believes that all children have innate wisdom and potential within them, and the role of teachers is to help draw out this inner knowledge and guide children in discovering and expressing their true selves. This approach aligns with the idea that spiritual education is about nurturing and supporting each child’s unique journey, rather than simply imparting information.
- We discuss things happening in kids’ worlds: a new school year, climate change, bullying, the changing seasons, or any issues they (or parents) are concerned about.
- We often incorporate the 12 Unity Powers: Faith, Strength, Wisdom, Love, Power, Imagination, Understanding, Will, Order, Zeal, Release, and Life.
- Unity believes that invoking all the senses helps deepen their understanding of the spiritual lesson and strengthen their relationship to God, so we try to incorporate as many senses during our activity.
- We focus a lot on topics of love, including how we show love for others, the environment, animals, and ourselves. Under the umbrella of love, we share practices for cultivating high self-esteem and ways to be in our power.
- If there is a holiday, we’ll discuss the spiritual symbol we can learn from that.
Some examples of our class spiritual lesson and activity:
At the start of the school year, we had a discussion about our fears. Some children shared their fears, and we talked about how these fears hadn’t ever happened, and were similar to a fear of the unknown. To illustrate this, we watched the “Platform 9 ¾” scene from Harry Potter, showing how sometimes we need to face our fears head-on, just like Harry did when he had to run into a brick wall. Afterward, we traced our bodies and drew ourselves as we envision in our minds. One child drew fire coming from his fists, while another drew flowers sprouting from her hair. The teacher then glued these images, along with a chosen affirmation, onto small wooden blocks that the kids could take to school.- In a recent lesson, we explored the concept that happiness is a constant within us even though it can be entangled with other emotions. To bring this idea to life, we invited the children to play with prisms in the sun. The kids learned how the light bends to form rainbows, and we drew parallels between the colors emanating from the prism and our emotional spectrum, recognizing that amidst the many of feelings we experience, happiness is always there. The kids shared moments in their life where they had more than one feeling at a time, one even saying that even though they were sad their grandmother passed away, he was glad she was no longer in pain. We also discussed how, like the light from prisms, feelings come and go.
- At the start of the school year, we had five uplifting "Spiritual Prep" classes to help kids prepare for the new school year. The themes were setting intentions, facing fears, kindness & compassion, affirmations & positive thinking, and balance. Some activities included drawing ourselves as we envision ourselves in school, and we attached affirmations to the photos, so whenever the kids had a tough moment in school, they could remember their visions to gather strength. Kids were encouraged to trust their God-self and know that there is one presence, connecting us all.
The lessons we teach dance around Unity’s 5 Basic Principles for Children:
- God is all good and active in everything, everywhere.
- I am naturally good because God’s Divinity is in me and in everyone.
- I create my experiences by what I choose to think and what I feel and believe.
- Through affirmative prayer and meditation, I connect with God and bring out the good in my life.
- I do and give my best by living the Truth I know. I make a difference.
Each class is taught with a teacher and at least one volunteer. Each member of our diverse, caring staff and volunteers brings their own special gifts and talents, which they freely share with the children. All staff and volunteers at the Unity Youth & Family Ministry must have current background checks. To see our volunteers and bios, view the bulletin board outside of the YFM room at Unity!
Thank you to all the families and kids for enriching our community with your presence!
For More Information
If you would like to bring your kids to Unity of Madison, feel free to come on Sunday. If you have questions or are interested in becoming a volunteer, please contact Kate by email at youthed@unityofmadison.org. I look forward to speaking with you!
View the Unity of Madison Youth & Family Ministry FAQs.
Thank you to all the families and kids for enriching our community with your presence!